Maintenance execs frequently worry about the supply of well-trained technicians, yet somehow skilled technicians always seem to be forthcoming as long as wages are sufficient. But will there always be enough well-trained maintenance managers? Here, the challenge is quality, not quantity. How can managers up their game as the demands of aircraft maintenance change? New models, new systems and new materials are always coming into fleets, and OEMs generally supply the training to handle the new technologies. But maintenance is changing in more fundamental ways, too.
The Aero Gulf Group is confident it will make money overhauling engines in Norway, even though Pratt & Whitney incurred losses there. At first glance, it might seem curious that the Bahrain-based helicopter operator purchased the CFM56 propulsion shop in Stavanger from Pratt & Whitney in August 2013—especially because the Middle Eastern company is not an engine expert. Pratt & Whitney had purchased the facility from Braathens ASA in 2000 to add CFM56-3 and -7 capabilities and expand its international network.
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, researchers are working with one major manufacturer to develop a completely different approach to forecasting intermittent demand: They are combining the behavior of commercial airlines and large fleet operators with predictive analytics.
I n the public’s view, there are only two choices facing the airlines following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Act now to ensure aircraft can always be tracked, everywhere; or cave in to the airlines’ moan that it is too costly and face the consequences the next time an aircraft vanishes.
T he Web has done more than any medium to pin the pejorative label “drones” on unmanned aircraft. But now, two giants of the Internet are taking a new look at the old idea of using unmanned platforms as “atmospheric satellites” to bring affordable, accessible connectivity to all parts of the world (see page 28).
As the technology for printing metal, plastic and composite parts advances, on-demand printing may improve managing parts with intermittent demand, says Tim Gornet, manager of operations at the Rapid Prototyping Center, University of Louisville. Gornet believes 3-D printing also will be used to produce replacement parts for aging aircraft that are difficult to service today. Rather than maintain an inventory of parts and tooling for a decade or two, parts suppliers and MROs could produce parts on demand.
T hree big trends are underway in the Chinese airline industry: local government backing of services to promote economic growth, a westward push by carriers seeking to corral new markets and an outward push by airlines trying to make up for decades of underperformance in international operations. Movement on each of those fronts has occurred in the past few weeks.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board might be six months from declaring the probable cause and contributing factors in the Asiana Airlines 777-200ER crash in San Francisco last July, but two main participants in the investigation, Asiana and Boeing, have already formed their own conclusions.
The Boeing 767’s once-lofty prominence in the global long-range airline fleet may be waning, but its mark on history is etched in stone. It was the first widebody twin to record 1,000 deliveries and the first widebody designed for a two-person crew. Most significantly, the two-engine aircraft carried twin long-range overwater flights from unheard-of to commonplace in no time.
Unlike most other panels’ sessions, however, the National Business Aviation Association’s Safety Committee focuses on human failings, systemic flaws and consequent errors that result in disaster and loss. Or, more specifically, how to prevent them.
First-class may be the most prestigious cabin onboard long-haul aircraft, but market shifts and product upgrades have positioned business-class to become the most important part of the aircraft—not just for airlines, but for seat manufacturers as well.
International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers saw this “starburst” of sunlight as the orbiting outpost passed above southwestern Minnesota in May 2013. Earth-science researchers are learning what astronauts and cosmonauts have long known—there is no better view of the home planet than the Earth-facing cupola of the ISS, 250 mi. above the surface. NASA is beginning to send instruments designed to take advantage of the station’s outside experiment mounts. Here is a preview of what can be observed, provided for the most part by the station crews.
Ecovative’s many materials are grown in basically the same way, using the same simple process McIntyre and Bayer discovered as students. Think of it as analogous to concrete: “You mix up a slurry of the particles and the tissue, pour it into a container, and it grows to that shape,” McIntyre says.
Last week’s launch of the 19th U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft could be the last for that model. The Air Force and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are planning to study the impact of not launching DMSP-20, which has already been manufactured and is in storage.
With aircraft retiring younger, used parts will play an increasing role in the aftermarket. As volumes increase, parts dealers, lessors, MROs and others seem to be moving into the aircraft disassembly business, rather than relying on independent teardown facilities to feed them. Does this upstream integration make sense? Will it work?
The Indian air force is investigating the March 28 crash of one of two Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules in a two-aircraft formation. Among the five men killed were the squadron’s second-in-command and a trainee pilot who was being supervised on low-level maneuvers.
Etihad Airways has recently focused its acquisition activities on airlines in Europe. It holds stakes in Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, Darwin and Air Serbia and is exploring a major shareholding in Alitalia. But concerns voiced by the European Commission may slow down its progress.
The Polish government has extended the lives of some of its remaining Soviet-era Sukhoi Su-22 ground-attack aircraft. Twelve Su-22M4s and six twin-seat Su-22UM3Ks will be upgraded for a further 10 years of operation, Warsaw announced on April 2. Poland says keeping the Su-22s will offload part of the close-air-support and ground-attack missions from its F-16s.
The Dutch government is reinforcing its United Nations mission in Mali with the deployment of Boeing CH-47 Chinooks. Three of the transport helicopters will be deployed by Octber as part of the Netherlands mission to the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali, which began at the end of 2013. The first Chinook will arrive in late April.
Where aviation visionaries and telecommunications entrepreneurs have failed, Facebook and Google may yet succeed. The idea of using platforms flying in the stratosphere to bring connectivity to remote regions is back, this time with the persuasive support of the Internet’s giants.
Japan’s major airlines have laid strong foundations for growth as they enter a new fiscal year, but the big question is whether economic conditions will be healthy enough to support their expansion plans.
Talk of streaming flight data from aircraft, sparked by the Air France Flight 447 crash into the Atlantic in 2009, has been rekindled by Malaysia Airlines Flight 370's disappearance over the Indian Ocean.
